But as Balcomb sat at the dais Monday night holding her young son, Quincy, she admitted that she had not seen any team like UConn. The size and quickness of the top-seeded Huskies defensively made it impossible at times for the eighth-seeded Commodores to get anything accomplished offensively.

Vanderbilt believed that it had faced enough competition in the SEC to prepare for what it would face against UConn in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Following a 77-44 loss at Gampel Pavilion, Balcomb was left to pay homage to the Huskies.

"I think they're very aggressive," Balcomb said. "They anticipate very well and I think also they're very big and they have really good size. And I think that's two things that ... We see some quick teams and we see some big teams. But they're big and quick."

UConn held Vanderbilt to a season-low in scoring, reaching the regional for the 20th straight season. For as many points as the Huskies have been able to score this season, averaging 82.5 coming into the game, it has been their defense that they have taken immense pride in since Day 1.

Defense paralyzes their opponent. Defense fuels their offense. And right now it is fueling their charge toward an NCAA record-tying eighth national championship.

"We take a lot of pride in our defense," UConn sophomore Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis said. "For as much as we work on it, it had better work in the games. When we put our mind to it, I feel like we're the best defensive team in the country, and nobody can score on us. It's the aggressiveness we have with the smarts of Kelly Faris behind us, it really puts us over the top."

That aggressiveness was on display throughout what ultimately would become just another rout for the Huskies. They scored 34 points off of 23 turnovers. And they held Vanderbilt scoreless for 13:05 during one stretch as they used a 29-4 run to open a 54-24 lead with 12:40 left in the game.

The Commodores were a combined 1-of-14 shooting from the field with 10 turnovers in this span.

"Our defense was so good that it never felt like we were struggling to keep the lead or struggle in the game, period," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "And I thought our defense was as good as it's been at any time this year. And that's exactly what you need at this of the year."

The defining stretch for UConn came in the opening 7:20 of the second half when they scored 17 straight points. Vanderbilt missed 11 straight shots and committed five turnovers.

"That's something I've always taken a lot of pride in and I think we've kind of grasped that this year as a team," Faris said. "But that's something that as a whole we have to take pride in. We've got to be able to trust each other on the court and I think (Monday) was really good job of showing that we had help. We took a lot of gambles, and (with) the pressure that we were applying there was always help there."

The Huskies have limited opponents to 49 points and 31.7 percent shooting from the field in 35 games this season. They currently rank third all-time in team single-season history in scoring defense and fourth in shooting percentage defense with as many as four games remaining.

"It's great because when we come out and trap and get steals and have people just alive it kind of rolls over into our offense," UConn senior Caroline Doty said. "So then if we get transition points those are easy buckets so then we can get into our press and try to force more turnovers. It's a lot of fun to play when you're up in their face and just reading the defense."

Maryland is next in line for the Huskies Saturday at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. They held the Terrapins to a season-low 48 points in a 15-point win at the XL Center Dec. 3.

Look for the same type of defensive pressure in the rematch. Like Balcomb said, UConn's defense is what sets it apart from other top teams in the nation.

"The difference with UConn and why they have a chance to win a national championship, I believe is that they're excellent at both ends of the floor," Balcomb said. "That's what our team saw (Monday), and that's why you saw the big difference in scoring compared to the Texas A&Ms, the Kentuckys and the Tennessees that we stayed with better."